Haruhi and The Giant Strawberry
by Blissful Dufus
Summary: Our lovely protagonist, poor Haruhi Fujioka, lived with her evil aunts, working for them all the time. When a series of events lead to her meeting a band of young men inside a huge enchanted strawberry, Haruhi is delighted. And freaked out. :: [TamaHaru]
1. Chapter 1

**Haruhi and the Giant Strawberry**

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**Chapter 1**

This story is based on James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. I chose to switch peach with strawberry because in episode 10, Haruhi said she liked strawberries, as well as to avoid a lawsuit. Obviously, Haruhi will be playing the role of James. She can also be seen several times as 'our lovely protagonist' or 'our cute little heroine'. This first chapter is what happens before Haruhi goes to live with her two evil aunts Eclaire and Ayanokoji. I thought it was funny to cast them as the evil aunts.

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It was a remarkably wonderful day. The sun shone down in the most beautiful fashion, illuminating the countryside with its elegant light. Our story takes place, first, on a hilltop cliff overlooking the ocean, somewhere in the Californian countryside. Being by the ocean, naturally, there was a bit of fog, covering the land in a thin blanket. But, no one had reason to fret, because, on this wonderful day, the fog was quite fortunately lucid, almost shiny, adding to the beauty of the landscape rather than taking away. Sitting atop the hilltop cliff was a young lady, and her two parents. The young lady just so happens to be our lovely protagonist. At the time however, she hadn't known she would soon become the main character in her own magnificent and magical story. Such a thought would never pass through her simple mind. Especially not at the time. She and her parents were sitting on the hilltop cliff on that magnificent day discussing their dream trip to Tokyo; the capital city of Japan. It was a particularly exciting conversation. Their dream trip was soon to come true! Well, it wasn't for sure quite yet, but her parents had been saving for the trip ever since she was a infant. The young lady felt confident with her parents, and filled herself to the brim with excitement. It bubbled inside her, that great excitement, like terrible indigestion, but with a wonderful sensation. It bubbled, and bubbled, as their conversation went on, her parents describing every little aspect of Tokyo. The young lady couldn't contain her excitement any further, as her father showed her the pamphlets and books. She shot up from her seat, and began to jump around quite excitedly. This was unusual behavior for our protagonist, however. So, of course, her parents were taken aback. Though, they couldn't help but laugh a bit at her ridiculous actions. The young lady laughed too, jumping up and off of rocks, and zooming around like an airplane.

"Tokyo! Tokyo! Tokyo!" she chanted as she ran about crazily. The young lady continued her frolic, jumping up and off of rocks, and zooming like an airplane, making a variety of odd sputtering and squishing noises with her mouth. Then, she paused, and sat down on a rock behind her mother. Her mother turned around to her, and giggled at the sight of her cheerful expression. "My, you're so energetic. I've never seen you with that face before, Haruhi."

The young lady, her name newly revealed as Haruhi, giggled back at her mother. "I know Mom, but, think of it! TOKYO!" she replied excitedly, falling backwards with the word 'Tokyo'. Haruhi closed her eyes tightly, balled up her fists, and put on her best concentrating face. She stayed this way for a few minutes, her parents watching on, happy to see their daughter so excited, though at the same time quite confused as to what it was she was doing. "Oh, I can just imagine what it's like! It must be so magnificent!" she finally said, shooting up suddenly. Once again, she began to bounce around excitedly, expressing her excitement by waving and flapping her arms about. Her parents felt a great elation at the sight of their own daughter's elation. Even if her frolic was greatly out-of-character, it was pleasing to them nonetheless.

As pleasing as her frolic was to them, however, it was even more pleasing to finally see her calm down once more, as she sat herself back down on the ground between them. Her big caramel eyes softened, for a moment, as she gazed out over at the ocean below. A sigh escaped her tiny body as a gentle breeze blew through her beautiful, long, dark brown hair. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, and felt the grass beneath her, wrapping her tiny hand around a clump of grass. The threesome, Haruhi and her parents, stayed quiet, letting the soft wind pass over them. Then suddenly, Haruhi's parents heard an odd thud, to soon after realize Haruhi had fallen over on her back. She was looked up at the sky, her lovely eyes again soft, like when she had gazed at the ocean. Her eyes took in every bit of the sky; the puffy clouds and their gentle white color, the way the clouds blended marvelously with the bright blue of the sky, the gentle ring of purple about the horizon, and even the little gray plane that flew overhead.

"But, even if Tokyo is magnificent..." Haruhi began to say, causing their parents to turn to her suddenly, "...I can't imagine anything more magnificent than this sky." Her father, Ryoji, petted her hair gently. "It really is a beautiful sky, huh?" He laid down beside her, soon followed by his wife, Kotoko. Kotoko grabbed Haruhi's hand, and said a simple "Yeah." as agreement. Ryoji grabbed Haruhi's other hand, and the threesome layed out with each other, gazing up at the magnificent, beautiful sky. In all their calm and happiness, this joyous family never would've have expected what was coming next.

Quite suddenly, the clouds grew a deep, dark grayish color, and seemed to roll in towards the family. Haruhi stood up and took a step back. "W-what's that?" she stuttered. But, before either of her parents could answer, out of the large, rolling, gray clouds emerged a burly, yellow-eyed rhino. The rhino, which is usually herbivorious, swung by Ryoji and Kotoko, gulping them up into his large mouth with his long, gray-pink tongue. Then he swung by Haruhi, his long tongue lolling out of his mouth. But, he did not eat our cute little heroine. The oddly carnivorous rhino spared Haruhi, and disappeared into the scenery, the large, grayish clouds following after.

Haruhi, left alone on the cliff, sat back down on a rock. She wrapped her legs in her arms, and rested her head on her knees. In spite of herself, our cute little heroine began to cry. She sobbed, with heavy gasps of air and large tears. She cried partly from the great shock of the ordeal, but mostly from the great sadness she felt from the sudden loss of her parents. But, Haruhi tried to be optimistic. "Well..." she muttered quietly between gasps of air, "at least I still have my sky."

When she returned home, she was suprised to find her aunts, Eclaire and Ayanokoji, waiting at her doorstep. She approached them slowly and cautiously, still a bit shook by the whole ordeal. They didn't look up to her until she spoke. "Auntie Eclaire...Auntie Ayanokoji," she muttered in a tiny voice. Eclaire frowned deeply. "Where are your parents, Haruhi?," she asked her sharply. Haruhi looked down, appearing very downtrodden. "Well...they were eaten," she replied, her voice low and quiet. Ayanokoji laughed wickedly. "Yes, yes, by the rhino!," she explained. Eclaire laughed too. "Yes, yes, and we'll take good care of you now, child." Haruhi would have been suprised at her aunts' knowledge of the rhino hadn't it been that her stomach was turning at the idea of living with them, her terribly wicked aunts.


	2. Chapter 1 and a half

**Haruhi and the Giant Strawberry**

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**Chapter 1.5**

This chapter is a brief summary of Haruhi's development and personality throughout the years of living with her aunts. It describes the way they treat her, and the work they put her through. I'd like to call it more of a mini-chapter, composed of many tiny paragraphs. It's more of an introduction. This is not a full blown chapter and therefore, this mini-chapter is officially dubbed "Chapter 1.5".

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That was when Haruhi was 10 years old. Now she was 16 years old. She had suffered through years of labor, maltreatment and service to her wicked aunts. They had Haruhi working on every manner of chores, and with only a tiny bit of food as reward. They once had her build a wooden shed in the backyard, each day only rewarded with a small half loaf of bread. She only got to bathe two times a week, and sometimes her aunts gave her dish soap instead of shampoo.

The two old aunts were bitterly envious of Haruhi's lovely long locks, and so, immediately after becoming Haruhi's guardians, they had her hair cut short. Every year on her birthday, they decided, they would cut her hair short, so her hair never had the oppurtunity to grow any longer than mid-neck.

But, even with the toils of work, little food, and boy-short hair cut she recieved, Haruhi still remained painfully adorable. Even with all the work and malnutrition she endured, her eyes still kept large and full of innocence. Her soul was pure, and clean. She was an all around good person, and as hard as they tried, her aunts couldn't change this. So, when she was but 11 years old, her aunts had her drop out of school. They knew leaving her at school would leave her vulnerable to "millions of snobby little suitors", as they put it, who would try to take away their "precious" servant. And, sadly enough for our lovely protagonist, her evil aunts made no effort to even home-school her after forcing her to drop out.

They did, however, buy her a book at the end of each month. The reason for which they bought these books for their niece, whom of which they saw only as a personal servant and ragdoll, was (and still is) unknown to our lovely protagonist. But, either way, she accepted the books openly every month, and learned to teach herself by reading these books. She was an exceptionally intelligent young lady, especially considering her situation.

One would most likely believe Haruhi to be depressed and bitter, unmotivated to learn, from all the years of abuse and work she had endured. And, this was partly true. However, Haruhi was not openly depressed. She sulked in the privacy of her closet. Her bitter attitude was not born from the painful years living with her aunts. She was a naturally stubborn, and somewhat bitter young lady. For a time, she truly was unmotivated to learn. She only kept the books her aunts gave her to act as ornaments for her bedroom. Overtime, however, she began reading the books out of shear curiousity, and eventually, she began to read them to learn.

Haruhi, even under her conditions, managed to stay an indivual. She was unique, in the most simple way possible. To put it simply, Haruhi was a cube, while everyone else were squares.

Haruhi, at about age 14, became very interested in music, after reading a biography of Mozart. But, even though Mozart only played classical music, Haruhi was interested in any kind of music. Sadly, her aunts bought her randomly chosen books, the choosing of which Haruhi had no part in, so she was merely lucky if she happened to get another book concerning music or a musician. When was 15 years old, however, she got a book about technology, and how it had developed over the many years of human existence, as her February book. In this book, she discovered the radio. It was quite fascinating to Haruhi, the way the book described the radio, and the way it released music from its speakers. Haruhi wanted a radio very much. However, being very un-materialistic and selfless, she left this desire as a sort of lingering feeling, rather than keeping it as a major theme of her life.

With this bland, uninteresting, depressing life of hers, Haruhi would never expect herself to become our lovely protagonist, in her very own wild and crazy story.


	3. Chapter 2

**Haruhi and the Giant Strawberry**

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**Chapter 2**

Here's where the story actually begins. Who do you think the red-haired young man is? Well? Come on, just guess!

Haha! I'm just kidding. You can guess it you really want to. Anyway, enjoy!

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"Saiyuki! Come make us breakfast, child!!" As the voice of her wicked aunt Ayanokoji rose up the stairway, Haruhi couldn't help but wince, as she pushed herself up off her bed. _My name's not Saiyuki, damnit. _It was frustrating. She worked so well for her aunts, and they didn't even take the time to remember her name. It wasn't even that hard to remember. It was a very simple; the name Haruhi. She could never understand why they always got her name wrong. She took her dear time changing out of her pajamas and into her day clothes. Haruhi even took the longest time possible putting on her slippers, just to displease her aunts. And, of course, to both her great, bittersweet delight, her aunts grew impatient and called for once more.

"Tamaki! What in the world is taking you so long, child!?" Haruhi scoffed. It was almost pleasing, this time, to hear them get her name wrong. _Tamaki. Wow, that one's funny. _She smiled, so very pleased with herself. "I'm coming, my dearest aunties!" she chimed, in the sweetest voice possible, as she stepped elegantly down the stairs and into the kitchen. Haruhi entered the kitchen, still stepping so elegantly, as if she was some magnificently wealthy princess. This very much displeased her aunts.

"Stop acting so pleasant, Haruchi, and make us breakfast. You know how I get when I don't eat!" her aunt Ayanokoji fumed, clasping the tablecloth tightly. Eclaire giggled. "God forbid you stop eating for once! Dear lord, you're such a pig!" Haruhi couldn't help but lightly giggle under her breath as she began to make breakfast. Her aunts' antics and arguments were positively hilarious! She also found it funny how close her aunt Ayanokoji had come to getting her name right. _Haruchi. I'll have to remember that one._ She tucked this name away into the back of her mind, for later use, as she prepared the scrambled eggs and bacon her aunts had ordered. Her aunts bickered and chattered at the table as Haruhi made their breakfast. She made her aunt Eclaire two eggs and four slices of bacon, while on the other hand, she prepared her far heftier aunt Ayanokoji four eggs and eight slices of bacon. Being the sneaky devil she was, Haruhi also managed to prepare an extra two pieces of bacon without her aunts' noticing. She prepared these two extra pieces for herself.

With her elegant little fingers, Haruhi placed each of her aunts place onto the table. "Enjoy, my dearest aunties!" She was acting overly pleasant again, just to peek their tempers. It was enjoyable, on occasion, to pick on her aunts. She resisted herself, most of the time, however. Though, today was an exception from such resistance. She couldn't help it, because today was her 16th birthday. She, quite unusually, felt the need to please herself, for once.

After serving her aunts, she began to clean up. She secretly grabbed a paper towel when her aunts weren't looking, and then, she brought the pan over to the sink. Pretending to clean the pan, she sneakily slid her two slices of bacon into the paper towel. She put her package down on the counter, moving her body so they couldn't see it, as she began to actually clean the pan. The warm water and soapy bubbles were most enjoyable to Haruhi. The warm water was quite soothing on her hands, on that cool winter day. The soapy bubbles would, every so often, rise up off of the pan, and float about her face, until they popped, in a quick stream of rainbow colors. With a life like Haruhi's, one just **had** to find pleasure in small things like warm water and little popping bubbles, to have any pleasures at all. With a life like Haruhi's, one would also have to be very sneaky to get what they wanted, like the savory fried bacon Haruhi was in the process of stealing.

As the last wash of soapy bubbles whirled down the sink drain, Haruhi was down washing the pan. She put it away in the strainer to dry. She wiped her hands carefully on the dish towel hanging from the handle fastening to the cabinet below the sink. With swift, nimble hands, she grabbed her bacon, and put it in the large pocket of her apron, where it would be easily concealed from her aunts. Before she could retreat to bedroom and eat her bacon, she would have to wash the counter down, and then clean her aunts plates and forks. She wiped down the counter with a bright yellow sponge, opened fresh from a new pack she had bought at the store. The sponge was of a brilliant color, that Haruhi took great pleasure in. Because, as I said, with her life, Haruhi had to take pleasure in anything that one could be pleased by.

Washing the counter took mere seconds, and so, Haruhi had to stand at the counter, and wait for her aunts to finish eating before washing their plates. But, her aunts were fairly gluttonous, even her stringy aunt Eclaire, so she didn't have to wait long. When they finished eating, Ayanokoji snapped her fingers for Haruhi to take their plates. This snapping always greatly displeased Haruhi. _Spoiled witches. _She took the plates obediently, over to the sink, and washed them, again marveling in the soothing feel of the hot water pouring over her hands, and the soapy bubbles dancing about for her. Her aunts left soon after Haruhi took their plates, to go watch some television, leaving Haruhi alone in the kitchen, washing the dishes. When she was done, she marveled at the pleasant shine of the porcelain plates and silver forks.

Haruhi retreated to her bedroom, quite pleased with her successful mission. She sat down on her bed, and reached into her apron pocket. Before pulling the bacon out from her pocket, she looked carefully at the door. She inspected the door for a few moments, to assure herself that her aunts were not out and about in the hallway. Once she was sure with her success, she lifted the paper-towel wrapped bacon out of her apron pocket, and carefully opened it. Haruhi couldn't help but allow for a small trickle of drool to escape her mouth at the sight of the bacon. She never really got to eat much food, especially not such yummy food as bacon. She devoured the bacon quickly. She had wanted to take her time, and marinate in the wonder of eating the bacon, but, she was so hungry, considering her aunts hadn't fed her anything except some stale crackers yesterday. Haruhi found herself bitterly disappointed once the bacon had disappeared. Sighing deeply, she balled up the paper-towel to go throw it out in the kitchen. As she got up to go throw it away, her door began to open. Frantically, Haruhi jammed the paper-towel into her apron pocket. If her aunts had seen the paper-towel, they would have suspected her, considering the fact that it was covered in grease.

Her aunts walked in, and looked at Haruhi for a moment. "Child," Eclaire began. Haruhi froze. "Yes, ma'am?" she asked politely, folding her arms over her stomach. She had had her fun, and now she needed to obey her aunts, or she would get a beating. And she certainly didn't want that. Eclaire grinned, and looked to Ayanokoji, who grinned back in response. "Well, child..." Eclaire continued, "even though it's the cold of winter, we'd like to prepare our garden for Spring." Ayanokoji chuckled. "Our rather, we'd like **you** to prepare our garden for Spring," she politely 'corrected' her sister, with a devilish grin on her face.

Our poor little heroine's heart sunk. It was so terribly cold out today. _And I know they'll make me tend to the garden during Spring too._ But, stifiling a deep sigh, she nodded, because she couldn't disobey her aunts. Her aunts grinned devilishly, still. "Yes, yes, and when you're done, we'd like you to clean the ash out of the wood stove and bring it out to the forest," said Eclaire, adding fuel to the fire. Haruhi restrained herself, still holding onto the deep sigh trapped at the bottom of her throat. She nodded once more. "Yes, ma'am. Right away." Quite pleased with themselves, her aunts left. Once they were gone, Haruhi let out her contained sigh. Immediately after the sigh, she yawned, probably from holding onto the sigh so long. Little tears welled in her eyes as she yawned, her mouth stretching open to the size of a grapefruit.

"Blah, blah, blah..," Haruhi complained to herself, as she sat down on her bed, and forced on her tight fitting boots. She slipped on her thin, worn sweater, which hung on a rusty silver hook hanging on her door, and headed down the creaky stairs. In the kitchen, she hastily grabbed her knitted winter hat which hung on a less rusty silver hook hanging on the door to outside. Then, she slowly opened the door, and walked just as slowly outside, and down the dirty, stone steps. She scanned the house's large front yard.

The house she and her aunts lived in had a particularly large lawn because they lived in a rather secluded place. It wasn't too far from town, though. This was quite fortunate for Haruhi, because her aunts often sent her on shopping trips. Even though they had a car, they stayed home and let Haruhi **walk** to town to go shopping. So, that's why it was fortunate for Haruhi that they lived close enough to town.

Haruhi walked to a patch of ground at the very edge of the lawn, where a stone wall was set. Said ground was surrounded by a weak, rotted wooden fence. And said fence was just about ready to collapse and disinegrate.

It was surprising to think something of such bad condition had been set up only last year. The reason for this was that Haruhi's aunts always supplied her with infectous wood with a large variety of worms and larvae living in it. The fence with which she used the wood to build had little purpose as a fence. It served more as a working outlet for Haruhi. Her aunts would do (almost) anything to keep their niece at work.

The wood she would use to build a new fence was arranged in a sloppy pile by the stone wall, accompanied by a small toolbox. Haruhi sighed. All those poor bugs, having been forced to meet the likes of her evil aunts. She giggled at this thought of hers. Though, she did feel a genuine pity for these poor bugs. A good majority of the bugs living in the wood were killed. The minority of live ones were just lucky enough to retreat into the safety of the wood's body. Haruhi's aunts had a terrible fear and hatred for bugs, and killed them whenever given the chance. Our lovely protagonist, however, was much kinder to all the bugs. Well, she was much kinder than her aunts in general.

As she picked up the pile of wood, a beautiful bird flew over head. Haruhi, finding the bird quite beautiful, became thoroughly distracted and a piece of wood rolled out of the pile. It landed with a loud _**KATHUD**_ onto Haruhi's foot. She winced deeply, and stared down at her foot for a moment before picking the piece of wood back up.

The moment her gaze looked up from her food, a red haired young man appeared before her. Despite the roughness of his face, this man was really quite kind. And, after only a moment of inspecting, Haruhi realized this. "May I help you?" she asked sweetly, smiling kindly. The last time their house had received a visitor (besides the mailman, if he counts as a visitor) was when Haruhi was 10 years old, and had her friend Yuki over to visit. So, Haruhi was quite pleasantly surprised.

The young man, though he did not appear it, was only Haruhi's age, and grew quite flustered at hearing sweet voice and seeing her kind smile. His face flushed slightly, but he had to shake it off. He was here to help this pretty young lady, not to ask her out. "Miss Haruhi Fujioka, is it?" he asked her politely, though still having a bit of trouble keeping his composure under the presence of Haruhi's adorable demeanor. Haruhi nodded shyly. "Yes, that would be me. So, how may I help you?" The young man cleared his throat.

"Miss Fujioka, I do not require your help. Instead, I have come to help you," he explained to her simply. This young man had peeked Haruhi's curiousity. She grinned. "Oh? How so?"


	4. Chapter 3

**Haruhi and the Giant Strawberry**

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**Chapter 3**

Here's where the magic comes into play! And we all know what that means! Giant strawberry time! Oh yeah, and if you didn't guess it, the red-haired young man is Kasanoda-kun. Enjoy!

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There was a long pause, and the young man refused to answer. A butterfly floated down and land on Haruhi's shoulder. Of course, she was quite shocked. "In the dead of winter...but, how the he--" she began to say, before an odd thought hit her. "Wait, sir, you couldn't be...magic, could you?" she asked this without thinking about how illogical that is. "Oh, no, that's ridiculous. There's no such thing as magic. This must just be some rare winter butterfly, or something to that effect. Yes, of course. Yes, yes, of course. So, how is it you can help me?" she said shakily. She didn't want this young man to think she was insane. But, then she noticed something. He had the oddest grin on his face. It was almost frightening, until a thought hit her.

"W--w-wait," she began, stuttering greatly, "y--y-you are m-m-magic, aren't you?" The young man still grinned as he nodded gently. Haruhi felt so impolite and rude for saying magic was ridiculous in the presence of a man of magic. She urgently bowed to the young man. "I'm sincerely sorry," she reassured him as she lifted her head from her bow, her tone of voice thoroughly apologetic. The young man flushed a bit, but again had to shake it off. "No, no. It's no problem, miss. Most people in your situation wouldn't believe in magic, " he reassured her, ruffling her dark chocolate hair. Haruhi was touched. This young man was very kind, despite his rough appearance. "Thank you, sir," she thanked him, smiling sweetly. "Now, how exactly is it that you plan to help me?"

The young man cleared his throat, and turned away from Haruhi. She was confused, especially when he jumped over the stone wall. "Wait, sir, where are you going?" she called out, as he ducked down behind the wall. She leaned over the stone wall, and saw the young man pick up a small glass jar, covered entirely with a thick coat of black paint. As the young man shot up, Haruhi stopped leaning on the wall, and jumped back a step, as he leaped back over the stone wall.

"These, Miss Fujioka," he began, leaning toward Haruhi, opening the jar carefully, "are exactly what you need." He wouldn't open the jar all the way; only a peak. Haruhi peered inside the jar, and saw little glowing pink...well, she didn't know what they were, they were just shaped like toy bunny heads. She stared at them oddly for a moment, and then glared up at the young man. "And what exactly is that?" she asked curiously. The young man grinned. "Magic." he said simply. Haruhi continued to glare at him.

"Yes, yes, of course, but what are they, specifically? I mean, do they have a name? What exactly is their purpose?" she asked him sharply. Though somewhat taken aback by her sharpness, the young man kept his composure. "They are called Usa-chan. If they get inside something or someone, that thing or person will be blessed with great magic. For a person, like you Miss Fujioka, it would mean great luck," he explained calmly, handing her the jar. Haruhi took the jar, and looked at it wide-eyed for the longest time, contemplating the many ideas of what might happen if she consumed these. What would happen if she was bestowed with the Usa-chan's great luck? She held the jar tightly, cherishing it. But, then suddenly, she snorted.

"Wait, wait, wait, did you just call these Usa-chan?" she asked the young man. But, when she looked up, the young man was gone. She leaned over the stone wall, and looked out over the field beyond the yard. But, there was no sign of the kind, magical young man who had given her the jar of Usa-chan. _Usa-chan._ She snorted once more, finding the name quite hilarious.

Then it hit her. _But how will I be able to hide these from my aunts!? Oh no, my aunts! I still have to do the garden!! _For the time being, she carefully set the jar on the other side of the stone wall, concealing it in the body of a pine bush. Hastily, she went back to work. She still had to fix up the garden, and bring the ashes from the wood stove out to the forest.

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By the time Haruhi finished with the ashes, it was 3:00 in the afternoon. She couldn't believe it. _Where did the time go? _Solemnly, she walked back to the house, dragging along the tarp with which she carried the ashes. Just as she reached the door, she remembered the jar. She dropped the tarp, and tore off towards the stone wall. As she ran down to the stone wall, a thought hit her. _But how in the world will I get it by my aunts!? _She stopped aruptly at the stone wall. Though with some hesitance, she leaned over the stone wall and reached her slender hand into the bush. Out she lifted the black jar. She stared at it for a moment. _I suppose I could say it's a jar of pickles. But why would I have a jar of pickles if I didn't go shopping?_ She had no clue what she would tell her aunts, or how she could sneak it past them. She sighed deeply, beginning to open the jar, taking great caution, just like the young man had before, to see if the Usa were still safe inside. Thankfully, they were. Before she closed the jar, an idea hit her. _I can smuggle this inside with the tarp! _The idea seemed so brilliant that she forgot about the jar, simply placing it on the stone wall. Quite foolishly, she left the jar open as she ran back up to the house to grab the tarp.

A strong wind blew, and sitting atop the instability of the stone wall, the open jar of Usa-chan fell down onto the ground, it's contents sprawling about. When Haruhi returned with the tarp, she quickly took notice. She dropped the tarp, and got down on her hands and knees, trying to catch the Usa. Haruhi had a difficult time trying to catch them, because they were small and fast. But, quite thankfully, she managed to get them all. _Ara?_ All but one, that is. She noticed one more heading towards her aunts' garden. She crawled after it, not thinking to get up and **run** after it. Just as she was reaching out, just about to grab it, the Usa dove into the body of an old withered plant. And quite suddenly, a strawberry popped out from the plant. Haruhi sat up, and observed the strawberry. She stared at it for the longest time, finding its sudden growth quite peculiar. It was odd to think a perfectly ripe strawberry could suddenly pop out li--of course! This was the Usa-chan's magic that was causing this odd strawberry to grow so suddenly!

She was quite taken aback when the strawberry grew more And more. And more! Not only was this unusual, it was unnatural! _No, I mean, it's magic._ Haruhi corrected herself appropiately. _But still. It's so odd! It's so awesome!_ As she gaped at the strawberry, which appeared to have finished growing, the strawberry had a particularly large growth spurt. Haruhi was unprepared for said growth spurt, and she toppled over backwards trying to avoid the strawberry. The jar of Usa-chan went flying from her hands. _No!_ The jar flew over the stone wall. Haruhi made no effort to jump over the wall and catch the Usa-chan, as their container (the jar) was now shattered into pieces, and they were rolling down the hill at top speed. She watched in dismay as her only hope for happiness rolled down the hill.

Though, soon her attention was directed back to the giant strawberry. _How am I supposed to explain this to my aunts!?_ Just then (speak of the Devil) her aunts came running down the yard towards Haruhi and the strawberry. Her aunt Eclaire frowned. "Whatever is this giant strawberry doing here!? And why are you slacking off?" she asked Haruhi sharply, grabbing onto her arm harshly. Haruhi winced. "I was bringing the tarp inside, when I noticed this large strawberry here at the garden. I'm not quite sure how it got here, though," she explained. Haruhi didn't know because she didn't lie much, but she was a very convincing liar. Eclaire released her grip on Haruhi's arm, and inspected the strawberry. "It's an oddly...round...strawberry. Just like you, huh, Koji?" she said, a grin playing over her face, as she turned back to her sister. Ayanokoji frowned. "Shut up." The two aunts began bickering.

Haruhi, quite cautiously, decided to raise a question. "Are you guys," she began, although she had wanted to say 'we' in place of 'you guys', "going to eat this?" Her aunts turned to her sharply. Ayanokoji's frown deepened. "Of course we're going to eat it! Idiot!" she snapped. Eclaire paused for a moment. Suddenly, she shook her head. "No, no, no! We aren't going to eat it, Koji. We'll charge people to come see it!" she insisted sharply, grabbing her hefty sister by the shoulders. "People will come from far and wide to gaze at the wonder of The Giant Strawberry!" Eclaire cheered triumphantly, lifting her arms up excitedly. Ayanokoji began to giggle. "Yes!What a brilliant idea, Eclaire! Money! Money! Money!" she joined in cheering with her sister, lifting her arms up excitedly as well. Haruhi rolled her eyes. _Spoiled witches._


	5. Chapter 4

**Haruhi and the Giant Strawberry**

**---------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 4**

This chapter will include Haruhi coming upon the Host Club guys in the strawberry. Oh yeah, and because the guys wouldn't be quite as gorgeous as bugs, and I want to put in TamaxHaru fluff, the guys will not be actual bugs. They will have antennas, but that's it. Once again, enjoy!

**---------------------------------------------------------**

As Eclaire and Ayanokoji had planned, they put the strawberry on display for the people to see. For a price, of course. _Spoiled, greedy bitc--I mean, witches. _Haruhi sat in the house, looking out the window; simply a spectator. Usually, she would be thankful that she hadn't any work to do, but instead, she felt great disdain. That strawberry belonged to her. It was made with the magic of **her** Usa-chan, but now her aunts were making money of it. They were making money off of **her** strawberry! _Outrageous! Unthinkable! Stupid! Evil! Greedy!_ All these words, she thought, described her aunts. But, when she thought about it for a moment, all these adjectives described her current behavior.

It was a little shocking. This was the first time Haruhi had felt greed since she was an infant. Ashamed of herself, she withdrew from her seat at the window, and went up to her bedroom. _Have I become a spoiled witch myself? _she thought to herself as she sat down on her bed, feeling awfully troubled. _I suppose they do say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. _Certainly, her aunts were not the 'tree' to her 'apple'. However, they had been raising her since she was 10 years old. That would be just about six years. Anyone could be reformed in the area of six years. The thought haunted her. The word 'reformed' hung in her mind, repeating itself over and over.

"If I stay here any longer," she said to no one in particular, "I'll become just like them, those spoiled witches." She shuddered at the thought, and shook her head back and forth ferociously, trying her hardest to dismiss the idea. But she couldn't. If she let this idea be, it would become true! "I have to leave! But, how?" As she thought it over, it grew darker outside. She rested down onto her bed, and wrapped herself in her blanket. _I'll sleep on it, I suppose... _Soon, she fell asleep. Had she known it was only 5:30 p.m. when she fell asleep, she would have been prepared to wake up at 12:40 a.m. When she awoke, she quickly noted the pitch blackness, and shot up from her bed.

_Why? _she asked herself, sitting down onto the floor. She hugged her knees, and stared intently at the window. She had heard on the TV that a warm front was coming up from Mexico, and a cold front was coming down from Alaska. This made for potential thunderstorm weather. This idea haunted her greatly because the last time she had woken up this early, there had been a thunderstorm. And, as you may or may not know, Haruhi was deathly afraid of thunder and lightning. Anticipating the worse, Haruhi yanked her blanket off her bed, and wrapped it around herself. She closed her eyes tightly, and clasped her hands over her ears. _Now, even if I think of an idea, I won't be able to escape this horrible place!_ Haruhi, in spite of herself, began to cry. She cried just as she did when her parents were eaten, because this was the first time she had cried since then.

She stayed like this for a longest time, wrapped up tightly, little tears streaming down her face. Yet, no matter how long she waited, there was no thunder or lightning. So, she cautiously opened her eyes. Upon closer inspection, Haruhi noticed it was not snowing, sleeting or hailing, as it may be suspected to during a winter thunderstorm. She sat up from the ground, and hesitantly walked up to the window.

Outside, it was perfectly clear. The sky was beautiful, millions of lovely shiny stars decorating a deep navy blue canvas. Haruhi suddenly forgot all her forebodings, and became absorbed in the lovely sky. Before she could be taken away; mind, body and soul; by the heavens, a thought struck her. _Maybe, just maybe, if I eat the strawberry, I'll be granted with the magic!_

It was a terribly reckless idea, because if she ate the strawberry to be granted the Usa-chan's great luck, and failed, her aunts would beat her for eating the strawberry. But, Haruhi didn't care. She wanted to be out of that house, away from the two woman who had the honor of being her aunts. _The honor of being my---I really am turning into them!_ Haruhi became frantic, noticing that she was slowly becoming not only greedy, but egotistical. By wanting to run away, she was also becoming selfish. Her aunts, in a very twisted manner, cherished the work Haruhi did for them. Therefore, for running, Haruhi was being selfish, not thinking of her aunts. But, she had to run. If she stayed any longer, she'd become even more selfish, and greedy, and egotisitical. So, she would eat the strawberry, no matter the result.

Haruhi slipped on her tight-fitting boots. She strung on her thin, worn sweater. And, with great determination (and forgetting to put on her hat, may I add) Haruhi set outside, and down the yard to the strawberry.

She stood at the strawberry, gaping in awe like she had when she had first seen it. _It really is quite awesome,_ she commented to herself, approaching it slowly. With a shaky, hesitant hand, Haruhi reached out to the strawberry, and clawed her tiny hand into its tender body. Gently, she pulled her hand out of the strawberry, a plump piece of strawberry resting in her palm. Quickly, she stabbed her teeth into the strawberry's meat. Before even taking a bite, she simply marveled in its lovely taste. For over a minute she stood this way, hesitating to take a bite, simply sucking on the strawberry's succulent juice. Then, after about three minutes, she decided it was time to truly **eat** the strawberry's meat. She tore her teeth through the strawberry, ripping a piece off, which she pulled into her mouth with toungue. It tasted fantastic. This was by far the best strawberry she had ever eaten. It didn't take her long to finish the rest of her piece.

As she was about to grab another piece of strawberry, she noticed an odd light coming from the hole where she had torn out a piece of strawberry. She peeked inside. For some odd reason, there was now a tunnel there, and it seemed much bigger than it was before. Struck suddenly with a great curiousity, Haruhi wiggled into the tunnel, and crawled through it carefully. Since she had forgotten to wear her hat, little bits of strawberry got stuck in her hair. At the end of the tunnel was an large open 'room'. This in itself was suprising enough. But, what really blew her away was the fact that in the 'room' were six breathtakingly handsome young men.

It really was a great shock to her. Haruhi refused to leave the tunnel, deathly afraid of these young men. The last time she had openly interacted with guys was when she was 11 before her aunts took her out of school. The only guys she had ever talked to since then were the kind old men in town, who gave her nickels whenever she went into town to do some shopping. There weren't any young men in the town. All the men were old, enjoying their retirement with their wives. All the people in town were old, except for the young women that worked at the market. Ever since being taken out of school, Haruhi hadn't interacted with young men around her age. And now, here she was, sitting in a tunnel, six young men right before her. Not only did she find these young men intimidating, she also found it awfully strange for these six young men to be randomly placed inside a giant strawberry.

As Haruhi observed the odd young men from the tunnel, she noted an awkward feature. All the young men had long, stringy antennas. And all but one of them were sleeping soundly. For some reason, noticing this made her feel less intimidated. Slowly and carefully, she wiggled out of the tunnel, and rolled out onto the floor, doing a soumersault before landing upside down at the feet of one of the young men. She looked up at the young man she layed upside down in front of. This young man was particularly handsome. He had lovely purple eyes and beautiful blonde hair. As Haruhi looked up at him, he looked down at her.


	6. Chapter 5

**Haruhi and the Giant Strawberry**

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**Chapter 5**

Ok, so, here is the chapter where Haruhi meets Tamaki. She doesn't meet any of the other guys, because, as stated in the last chapter, they're all sleeping soundly. I mean, this is occuring at night, is it not?

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The young man was taken aback to find a lovely pair of peanut butter eyes looking up at him timidly. But, his surprise soon subsided. He took a step back, and crouched down in front of Haruhi. "And who might you be, miss?" he asked politely, with a soft smile over his face. Haruhi felt her face flush, considering the fact that this lovely young man's face was so close to hers. "H-Haruhi! Fujioka Haruhi!" she announced, suddenly shooting up from the floor. Haruhi felt her face flush even more, a deep crimson setting over her cheeks. The young man stood up from the ground, and looked down to her again. "What a lovely name," he replied simply, taking her tiny hand, and kissing it lightly.

Haruhi tried her hardest to keep her composure. "A-and, who might you be?" she asked, stuttering slightly. The young man seemed to brighten as Haruhi asked for his name. "Suoh Tamaki," he replied, his voice deep and gentle. Haruhi seemed to feel less intimidated, now knowing his name. Then, she remembered something that caused her to giggle. She grabbed her stomach, and bent her head down, soon in the middle of a giggle fit. Tamaki, quite confused, took a few steps back. He watched intently as Haruhi kept giggling. He stepped towards Haruhi again."Haruhi?" She looked up at him, tears of laughter in her eyes, as she continued to giggle. "I-I'm sorry! It's just...YOUR **NAME**!" she said between giggles, falling down onto the ground.

Tamaki was still confused. "What about my name?" he questioned, crouching down to the ground where Haruhi layed in the midst of a giggle fit. Haruhi giggled once, twice...and then stopped. She sat up and looked at Tamaki very seriously. "I'm sorry, Tamaki, but your name," she paused for a moment here and yawned. Tamaki grew anxious. "What about my name!?" he demanded.

Haruhi rolled her eyes as he began to fidget and fuss. She sighed, as a manner of bracing herself, before she grabbed Tamaki by the shoulders. She stared him straight in the face. _He has such lovely eyes. _"You have such lovely--" _No! That's not what I wanted to say!_ Tamaki froze. He looked at Haruhi curiously. "Such lovely what?"

She had to think of some way to cover this. She turned around, her back facing Tamaki. It didn't take long for her to become completely absorbed in her thoughts. She bit her lip, and fidgeted with her hair, all the while ignoring a terribly anxious Tamaki. She didn't even seem to notice when he again demanded, "Such lovely what!?" She also didn't notice when he began to jab his index finger at her left arm repeatedly. "Ha-ru-hi." Hearing Tamaki say her name made her remember the initial theme of their conversation. And she thought of the perfect cover-up. _That's it!_ "You have such a lovely name!"

Ok, so maybe it wasn't the perfect cover-up. But, Haruhi had initially meant to say his name was cute, so it was good enough.

Or, perhaps it wasn't. Tamaki, who had been poking Haruhi's left arm, withdrew his finger, and turned his head away from her. He glanced at her quickly and discreetly, before turning his entire body away from Haruhi. It was odd for a girl to say such things! A girl never said a man's name was _**lovely**_. She might say a women's name was lovely, sure, yeah. But, never in a million years would a women say a man's name was _**lovely**_. Cute, sure, but lovely, no! It was at this moment that Tamaki came to a realization, _Haruhi is a homosexual young man!_, or an assumption, rather. He turned his head to look over his shoulder. _But a young man shouldn't look so much like a girl! Such a cute girl, too! He's even wearing a dress! I don't care if he's homosexual, he shouldn't cross dress! He'll fool young men who don't know any better!_

Tamaki stood up, and turned back around to face Haruhi again. "YOUNG **MAN**!!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, thrusting his index finger towards Haruhi. It was a surprise that the other young men in the room hadn't woken up after all this yelling that had occured.

Haruhi, obviously not a young man, didn't respond. By now, she had grown bored, and was totally absorbed in 'finger-painting' with the strawberry juice that soaked the floors.

Haruhi's blatant ignorance of him made Tamaki terribly upset. His extended index finger reached out a little farther and **poked** Haruhi on the forehead. This caught her attention. She looked up at Tamaki with her caramel eyes narrowed, frowning somewhat. "And how may I help you, sir?" she questioned sharply, gently pushing Tamaki's finger away from her.

**----------------------------------------------**

It was obvious that he was insane. He was loony! He was crazy! How in the world, "...could you have thought I was a boy!?"

"Well, men make odd assumptions when under the presence of such lovely ladies as yourself."

_Suck-up._ Haruhi sat, arms crossed, with a deep frown on her face. Never, never, never had someone mistaken her for a boy. It was degrading! It was rude! It...it actually wasn't that big of deal. _Had an aunt moment there, didn't I?_ She sighed. "It's okay, Tamaki. Just tell me the truth."

Tamaki was happy to see her frown disappear and be replaced with a warm smile. "Well, I thought it was odd for a young lady to say a man's name was _**lovely**_. I mean--" he had began to explain his predicament, when Haruhi interrupted him by giggling. "Why are you giggling?" he demanded, grabbing onto her sleeve eagerly.

Haruhi simply brushed his hand off her sleeve. She kept giggling, deciding not to answer his question. Tamaki stared at her blankly as she continued to giggle. "I said, why are you giggling?" he asked her once more. This time, she decided to answer him. She stopped giggling momentarily, and looked up at him with a goofy smile on her face. "It was hilarious the way you emphasized the word _**lovely**_." She too emphasized the word 'lovely', as a manner of mocking him.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. This girl had a problem. She giggled far too much, over the stupidest things! "Haruhi! You have a problem!"

She was shocked. "Eh? I do? What!? What's happening!?" She became unusually frantic.

Tamaki was in a perpetual ring of disbelief. This time, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Haruhi was nearly bouncing off the walls. What in the world was wrong with this girl? Why was she so dramatic!? "Haruhi! Calm down! You don't have a **physical** problem!"

Haruhi stopped abruptly, and turned her head towards Tamaki. "I don't? Well, why in the world did you lie to me?" she questioned him eagerly, grabbing onto his sleeve as he had grabbed onto hers earlier. Tamaki sighed. He took Haruhi's hand off his sleeve and looked at her with a deathly serious expression about his face. "Haruhi, you have **mental** problem!"

Now it was Haruhi's turn to be struck with disbelief. This young man really was insane. "Tamaki, I don't have any mental problems," she insisted, grabbing onto his sleeve again.

Tamaki couldn't help but glare at her. Her outright defiance caused him great disdain. "Then, why are you having these crazy mood swings, and laughing at the stupidest things?" he demanded. This time, he didn't bother to remove her hand from his sleeve. In fact, he found it quite enjoyable to have her cling onto him.

It was at this time that Haruhi felt a sharp pain in her lower belly. Her vision grew blurry and her mind grew cloudly. She began to pant heavily. Her legs began to throb. _And I've got mood swings? Oh dear god! _Haruhi had realized something she really hadn't wanted to. She had her period. _That must have been why I woke up so damned early!_ She turned to Tamaki, trying to hide the pain she felt from her sudden symptoms.

"I, uh, must have a fever," she insisted simply, her grasp on Tamaki's sleeve tightening. This was partly true, and so, she could probably get away with it. Or not. Tamaki quickly placed his hand on her forehead. And on his face appeared a perplexed expressions. "Why, Haruhi, you're no hotter than cup of cold coffee!"

And now Haruhi was in a bind. Tamaki was holding onto her like a father would a daughter, gently and discreetly, but, at the same time, very securely. "You must be getting a fever, then! It's best to nuture you now, before you get sick!" Haruhi sighed. These outbursts of his were annoyingly refreshing. _Wow. He's very talented, to be annoyingly refreshing._ She giggled to herself, but she did so discreetly, as to evade Tamaki's attention.

It took only a very short amount of time for Haruhi to find herself further in trouble. She realized how comfortable it felt in Tamaki's arms. It was as this realization reached her that she heard her aunts calling her from outside. She suddenly felt scared. Tamaki made her feel safer, but she still felt terribly scared, hearing her aunts' voices coming from outside.

"Mitsuki! Mitsuki, where the hell are you!?" called her aunt Eclaire, frantically clutching onto the hem of her dress. Ayanokoji was near tears, clutching onto the hem of her dress much like Eclaire was. The both looked like lost little girls, looking for their mother.

And, Haruhi would have very much enjoyed this sight, had she seen it. But, she did not. Instead, she clung tightly onto Tamaki, shaking and trembling. Tamaki was shocked by this. "Haruhi, what's wrong? Are those bad people out there?"

This question soon answered itself. "Mariachi, come out here right now, or we'll eat you!" came the crude voice of Ayanokoji. Eclaire chuckled at Ayanokoji's threat. "Only you would do such a thing, Koji, you bloated whale." Ayanokoji glared at her sister. "Oh, shut up! You know I meant to say 'beat'! Don't make me beat **you**, you wretched hag!" The tone of voice these women used revealed that they were not joking. These women held real spite in the words they spoke. This terrified Tamaki half-to-death.

"Ok, so they are bad people." Tamaki paused for a moment. _Mitsuki. Mariachi._ These women 'obviously' hadn't know Haruhi for very long. "Are they new neighbors of yours?" he inquired, petting Haruhi's hair, trying to calm her shaking body. Haruhi shook her head. "No. They're my aunties," she explained, her grasp on him growing tighter. She really did feel very comfortable when being held by Tamaki.

Tamaki was taken aback. "Your aunts don't know their own niece's name!?" He was utterly shocked by this idea. Haruhi nodded solemnly, beginning to shake more and more as she heard her aunts draw closer and closer. "Actually...they called me Tamaki once," she noted, trying to distract Tamaki. She didn't want him worrying about her anymore. Tamaki was about to give Haruhi his reply, when he heard a pair of voices he really didn't want to hear.

"Eh, who's this?" chimed a pair of unknown voices.


End file.
